Eagle Pack's take on rotating

You could just buy a 10lbs bag, that could last maybe a month depends how much you food your dog(s)
 
If you want to change, just do it! Just be sure to do it slowly by mixing it with current dog food & new dog food
 
Just do this for maybe 2wks, & graudly just make the old dog food less say 3/4 & 1/4 new. Keep doing that!
 
Most of all g'luck!
 
Jennifer

We normally do not recommend to rotate formulas for dogs, as they need a consistent diet.

I would have been mighty surprised if a pet food manufacture advocated rotating foods,and wouldnt expect anything less than " they need a consistent diet" kind of comments.

For starters why would a company advise the use of a competitors brand?That would mean they would lose out on sales while the dog was eating another food and possibly customers(if another food suited better) Admitting that dogs need a varied diet would mean that their food wasnt sufficient in providing everything a dog needs.

Audkal everything in that e-mail you posted is geared toward keeping customers on their food,and only their food.It would be a very bad business move for them to admit that dogs need variety(which we all know they do) and that rotating different foods is a positive thing.
The e-mail also goes on to state changing foods will cause stomach upsets and will make the body work harder yada yada yada.This to me sounds like scare mongering! If a dog is used to having different foods than his system will be used to it and none of the above things would occur.They may however occur if a dog is stuck on the same diet constantly,which is what they are advising[8|]

What would you think if you saw a tv add for a human food stating it had everything in it a human needs to survive and you should not need to ever eat anything else as variety is not important and besides will cause stomach upset etc etc.Would you believe it,would you be prepared to eat this food and nothing else,would you also inflict their way onto your kids?

The same diet day in day out is not healthy for any living being!Unless you have a gravely ill dog who will just about keel over if put on a different food than i see NO positives to feeding the same brand or the same food day in day out. No ONE food can possibly provide everything every dog needs,they need a variety of different foods to stay in optimal health,the same as us.

Last but not least,there is the boredom factor.I know some folk will say dogs dont get bored eating the same food every single day,but i just dont believe it.How can anyone possibly say with all certainty that dogs dont sick of the same  thing at every single meal time???

I agree with everything above posted by Edie. [] Recently I've been feeding a combination of Timberwolf Organics, Innova EVO, Royal Canin puppy 33,Wellness canned, and cooked chicken. Then a day or two ago I added beef babyfood. There's been no stomach upset whatsoever and his stools are still small and dark. Also for the first time in many months Gingerbread has actually been cleaning his bowl! I think the variety has really given his appetite a jump start.
 
I think the reason that the variety isn't upsetting his system is that since he was 10 weeks old he's never eaten the same food for more than a month. It just happened that way because I was always searching for the "best" food. Rotating between brands is working out much better for me because I will never be able to settle on one best food, and that's because I realized there isn't one!
 
*Note to self, subtract Royal Canin puppy 33 from the rotation, add Royal Canin Special 30, Eagle Pack, and Solid Gold. []

Edie,
I do agree with you on some points. They *ARE* in the business to sell food, but I think part of the reason they advise not switching because of what it *CAN* cause in some dogs, was done so for LEGAL reasons.
Can you imagine what would happen if they had told some one (not as knowledgeable as we are here) that yes, it is good to switch foods and someones dog had a horrile reaction to the switch. Got sick and was taken to the vet. Well, the consumer would immediately *BLAME* them and file a lawsuit to recover cost of the bills. Not everyone understands the concepts of how to switch gradually and also, some dogs (which may not be disclosed in an email) may have food sensitivities.
 
JMHO on EP's response to switching foods.

 

Well, the consumer would immediately *BLAME* them and file a lawsuit to recover cost of the bills.

 
,,,,,,,,,,,and boy wouldn't we here on this forum be bad mouthing the company that got one of our dogs sick.  lol!
 
I do change formulas, but I stay within the Eagle Pack line. Wonder if they suggest to not do that also.

I must read things different because I read that she was asking them about THEIR food, asking to try THEIR FOOD or another line of THEIR food.  She was not asking them about rotating some other brand, so i do not get the idea the e-mail or letter was our of line in any way--they are just repeating something I have heard for years and years...which i don't know is true or not.

ORIGINAL: dyan


I do change formulas, but I stay within the Eagle Pack line. Wonder if they suggest to not do that also.

 
It seems to me that is exactly what they are recommending.  Don't change FORMULAS.  I would assume that would include different formulas within the EP line.

For starters why would a company advise the use of a competitors brand?That would mean they would lose out on sales while the dog was eating another food and possibly customers(if another food suited better) Admitting that dogs need a varied diet would mean that their food wasnt sufficient in providing everything a dog needs

  I feed Eagle Pack and believe the company is honest and ethical but it would be asking too much of any company to admit that rotating between different brands may be a good idea. I'll send an e-mail to them to clarify the question as to whether they're referring to rotating between their own formulas or other brands and post the response here. I am editing this because I did remember one company that admits no dog food is 100% complete; Wysong;
 
 " Variety and rotation are the keys to good health. One packaged food in a bowl day after day, regardless of claims of “completeness,” “research,” and the like is a definite no-no. Variety, supplementation, fresh foods and intelligent selection with an eye to quality (not marketing) is critical. "

what these dog food companies aren't saying is that if you only feed one food day in day out, yes, the dog will get stomach upset if he eats anything else-- you've weakened his digestive system. However if you regularly feed many different foods the digestive tract adapts and becomes very robust. Your dog can now steal your young nephew's ice cream cone without having diarrhea all night. I and my carpets appreciate a  dog with a robust digestive tract.

Daniell's reply is one of our positions but we do agree with what a lot of our holistic vets subscribe to and that is they rotate among our 3 Holistic Select(R) single source protein diets every 3-30 days. Their theory is 2-fold. The pet won't build an allergy to an ingredient as he is not on it long enough. The other reason is that each diet contributes its own special nutrients so the pet is not missing anything. We subscribe to both philosophies as a matter of personal preference. However we support out 3-meat meal protein diets as having everything in it in the firsr place.  

Obviously we would like to see pet owners stay with the Eagle Pack brand, and that is why we make 3 different single meat meal source protein diets as well as several other diets available for rotation. And since I have been off for awhile, Jamie just got me logged back in, and for those that don't know me, I do work for Eagle Pack, and we try to be as forthright as possible in our answers. ersonally, I have been involved in dogs and nutrition for 30 years.

I very much agree with mudpuppy.  My older dogs get something different almost every day, as does my new puppy because he was fed raw from day one.  I'm still gradually acclimating my little Chinese Crested so she gets a rotation, but a slower one.

I do NOT advocate just jumping right into this approach - I've been slowly increasing the rotation rate on Zhi over the last YEAR.  She now switches about every two weeks, so we're close.

Even Zhi gets a little different item every day, though - a whole raw duck egg, yogurt, cottage cheese, a piece of fish,  a little ground meat, steamed veggies.

I had to jump in and give my experience on the rotation question. My non-holistic vet has been involved with nutrition education within the last 5 or 6 years. She has attended seminars all over the world regarding nutrition and also gone to seminars sponsored by propionate dog food companies. She also attended new nutrition education at UC Davis. I asked recently what she has come away with from all of this "education". One: fish oil. She said fish oil is the one thing she heard over and over and over. They are seeing many fantastic results. Two: rotation. This blew me away. She always asks what dogs are eating when she does an exam. She has noticed over the years I don't tend to get stuck on any one food. She commented that one of the reasons for the consistent health in all my dogs over the many years has been my "rotation" of foods. (and that I have always added real or raw foods) And she laughed, "now, they are actually recommending it !!!" She said if you are squeamish about changing foods, rotate with in the family of foods, if they have a selection. But she actually said....it really came out of her mouth --- to rotate every 3 to 4 months with new and different foods. Then she named off the two or three she has rotated with her own dogs!
Who knew.

I know two vets (former vet of mine and my emergency vet) that are going mostly raw, and two others, who are good friends of mine, who are seriously considering it.  My introduction to the all-natural diet (Volhard, actually), was nine years ago while working with a world-renowned veterinary behaviorist on a project with OCD rescue BCs.

And of course I've dragged my friend who is a PhD research biologist (genetics is her field), into this discussion ad nauseum.  But it's significant that I know many, many scientific types, particularly ones who work with animals, who have gone to some form of all-natural feeding approach with their pets.